Pol Lt General Tesa Siriwato told The Phuket News today, “Tourists need to feel safe while they visit our country and it is our job to assist and provide security for them. Phuket is a tourism island so maximum security is always needed.
“We will have more officers on the streets to monitor and check on tourist. In addition to the usual patrol units, we will also have foot patrol units along the beaches and cycle patrol units in residential areas,” he said.
“We have told all entertainment venues, hotels and resorts that they should install CCTV cameras to cover all areas of their businesses, and that if their CCTVs are damaged or old they should be repaired or upgraded to be the best quality.
“We will also continue with our ongoing anti-drug and -crime campaign with the crime suppression units,” he added.
Lt Gen Tesa also called on the local administration offices to help monitor their areas for safety.
“More volunteers will be on the streets of Phuket to provide security for and to assist tourists. These volunteers must be able to speak foreign languages because right now we have a number of European and Asian tourists on the island.
“Tourist Assistant Centres have been set up in tourist destinations such as Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and Phuket,”said Lt Gen Tesa.
The new Police Region 8 Headquarters recently opened in Mai Khao to provide safety to the seven Andaman provinces (Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Chumporn, Surat Thani and Nakhon Sri Thammarat) which deal with foreign tourists everyday. (see story here)